Ideating Mining Waste as Potential Alternative Energy for the Future, FMIPA UI Student Team Wins National Mining Competition Achievement

Students of the Geophysics Study Program class of 2021, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI), namely Adnan Hasyim Wibowo, and Stella Eulia Andok, together with his colleague from the Faculty of Engineering UI, Ilham Arya Satya (Metallurgical and Materials Engineering 2020), won an achievement in the Youth Mining Camp Competition (YMCC) Student Paper Competition, a national-level competition organized by the Mining Engineering Department, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Yogyakarta (UPN VY).

The team named "Dear Future" won 2nd place in the mining competition. The announcement of the winners and the awarding of the winners were held face-to-face on Saturday (27/5/2023) at the Indonesia Mining and Energy Summit 2023, at UPN Veteran Yogyakarta.

The idea put forward by this team is "Landfill Waste-to-Energy Power Plants in the Coal Mining Industry as an Advanced Waste Management Strategy to Achieve Energy Sustainability: A Critical Review". This idea was inspired by the team's interest in matters related to energy transition and sustainability. This was also driven by the experience of the three students in writing papers about sustainable energy in several similar competitions, and the knowledge they gained in college.

Through their innovation, Adnan and his team are trying to initiate a potential environmentally friendly alternative energy from mining waste as a solution to anticipate the energy crisis in the future. In this team collaboration, Adnan as the team leader said that each team member has their own role and contribution.

"Ilham focuses on the technical and analytical aspects, Stella helps with the creative and design aspects, while I am responsible for coordinating the entire project. They also work on the abstract together, while for writing the full paper, the task is divided after completing the methodology. Stella is responsible for designing the waste-to-energy landfill, Ilham analyzes the technical aspects, and I analyze the feasibility and sustainability aspects." Adnan said explaining the roles of his team members.

“Initially, when the three of us were discussing, we discussed waste in mining industry which has the potential to be used as an energy source, and we also found out about waste-to-energy. But we have not found any research that discusses this issue in detail. waste-to-energy di area mining, especially those who take advantage of it landfill waste. Akhirnya kami memutuskan untuk mengusulkan kebaruan ini.” kata Adnan.

The idea they created aims to conduct a critical review and design a waste-to-energy power plant in a coal mining waste dump as a sophisticated waste management strategy to achieve energy sustainability. This study uses the 4D method (define, design, develop, disseminate) as a mixed method that combines quantitative and qualitative approaches.

The team then conducted literature studies, simple modeling, surveys, and interviews to obtain data on energy, economic, and sustainability analysis of various waste management strategies. From the results of this study, the power plant waste-to-energy proven to produce clean, renewable and reliable energy.

As much as 80% of the energy produced can be recovered and used as a steam energy generator. Based on the data obtained, each ton of landfill waste can produce 110.59 kWh, equivalent to supplying electricity to three modern homes every day.

Landfill Waste-to-Energy Power Plants also has advantages compared to conventional waste management strategies, where its implementation is sustainable and has long-term economic potential.

"If this idea is widely implemented, it will not only help in the energy transition process, but will also develop a circular economy in the sector that implements this concept," said Adnan

The Youth Mining Camp Competition (YMCC) Student Paper Competition is a competition that provides an opportunity for students to express innovations and creative ideas in the mining sector.

Public Relations Contributor of FMIPA UI: Arrizqy Nadya Khairunissa (Geography 2019)

News source : https://sci.ui.ac.id/